Possible Dyslexia

Before you seek a dyslexia diagnosis as he is still young, it would be good to get a complete developmental vision assessment from a person who works primarily with children. This isn't the basic vision test that tests acuity but is a group of many tests that looks at how the child's eyes work together, what the child's depth perception is like, how strong the eye muscles are, and many other skills that are needed to read efficiently. Too many people jump ahead and don't know to assess the very basic motor skills that are essential to reading first. Beth Ballinger in Newport Beach is very good. Good Luck!

Call a local child therapist. They should have a list of testing options. Also, if there is a school for children with learning differences in your area. Often these schools have testing on site, or good referrals.

P.S..... go with your gut. Mom's know

As a former Title 1 teacher( I specifically worked w/children who were below grade level readers) I have worked with dislexic children in the past. Unless something has changed in the last 5 years(and I doubt it has), there are no specific programs for working with dislexic children, even if you have it diagnosed.

My best suggestion is that you follow your instincts and patiently and lovingly work with your child to get past his frustrations and unravel the blind spots in his learning. I found that writing exercises were key to helping me understand where a child was coming from. If you see a lot lof reversals in his writing, help him look over his work and self-correct his mistakes. You may use a chart with stickers or some other simple rewards to help him progress to fewer and fewer errors. Let him know that you understand that this whole thing may be a little harder for him than for other children, but you know he can do it and that you will be there for him until he can get it right on his own.

There are many successful dislexic adults out there who just had to learn how to "decode" past their dislexia.

I am not certain why people are always in the wait and see mode. Meanwhile your child is getting farther and farther behind and more frustrated.Please call the regional center in your area and explain you situation and see if they can help. If not, ask them who can help you. If it is only the school district YELL real loud so they understand that you and you son need help!

Penny Amic CEO/Clinical Director
Special Beginnings, Inc.
An Early Intervention Network

You should definitely go to the school and ask them to test your son, but you might find you will get better answers going for private testing.

I would encourage you to read the book The Mislabeled Child (http://tinyurl.com/2vjp7bw). This book goes through every learning disability and talks about ones that might look like others. Reversing characters, reading backwards or struggling to read could be other things besides dyslexia. There are visual processing issues or Irlen issues that could cause similar symptoms but aren't dyslexia.

Schools will do an evaluation for dyslexia, but they don't usually check for visual processing issues or Irlen issues. Insurance may not cover a private assessment, but that might be the best chance of getting an accurate diagnosis.

I see you are in Fullerton. I don't know of any centers in that area that do testing. There is The Learning Gym in Manhattan Beach (http://learninggymusa.com/) that does screening for many of these issues. They don't do a full diagnosis for dyslexia, but screen to determine if a full assessment needs to be done. Their screening is often covered by insurance.

While the schools are there to help, in my experience (and trust me, I have a lot of it) you have to take the bull by the horns and do something yourself. This includes after diagnosis too. Don't rely on the school to help your son improve. They have limited resources and they are only allowed to use therapies that have a lot of research to back it up. In our son's case the therapies that don't have that type of research have been the ones that have created the greatest improvement. You have to be your son's advocate and find out what will help him the most.

I hope this is helpful,
B.

The schools absolutely can test specifically for dyslexia, but you will have to request it. I work in the Special Ed department of an elementary school in my area, and my best advice for you is to be as stubborn as you feel you need to be to get what you want done for your son. There is no one who will be a better advocate for you child than you. Typically, they don't test until sometime around 3rd grade because if they test and it doesn't show dyslexia they won't test him again. At least that is how it works here. You can also contact a Scotish Rite hospital for testing. There is usually a waiting list, but if you can get on it, it will cost you nothing. Good luck.

Check out the Dept of Ed in CA. In PA the school district is required to test, free of charge, if the parent requests it in writing. (I believe they have 60 calendar days once they receive the request) They will complete a full IQ test and grade level testing but my district in PA did not tell me this. I got the run around for about a year before I paid out of pocket to have my daughter tested. I then brought the results to the school and then they did their own testing minus the IQ test which can only be administered once/yr. Know your child's rights because my experience is that the school will not volunteer anything even if your child ends up qualifying under the law!

My daughter has dyslexia. You are right in pursuing diagnosis early, the earlier the diagnosis and intervention the better the outcome for the child! Do not let the school delay or convince you to wait!

I live in CT so, I really can't recommend anyone to you, but I can tell you how to find reliable resources and information.

Contact your states Learning Disability Association and Contact the National Dyslexia Association - you can call these association and they will provide you with free information and resources. At some point you may need to hire an advocate to help you navigate and "fight" the school system to get the services that your child has a right to if diagnosed with a learning disability.

Google Orton Gillingham, it is the gold standard for teaching kids with dyslexia, my daughter receives orton Gillingham tutoring outside of school and she now reads at grade level.

If you can get in touch with a tutor that specializes in Orton Gillingham method, they will beable to recommend someone that can test your son.

Read Sally Shaywitz's book - Overcoming Dyslexia - the book has a lot of useful information on dyslexia, diagnosis and intervention.

Oh, and google Masonic Learning Center and see if there is one in your area. My daughter receives free tutoring from them and they are dedicated to teaching kids with dyslexia and training people to tutor kids with dyslexia.

Thats is all that I can think of now, if you have any questions, please feel free to pm me.
L.

One other option for you, call the colleges in your area that have teaching programs, they will often test kids for free. This is a good choice because by the time the college student is pursuing special education classes they are already teachers and the professor over sees all the testing and reviews the results so you get two sets of eyes reviewing your childs results.

I don't know about in CA but my Aunt works as a diagnostician for the local school district in TX and will test for all kinds of learning disorders. The parents just have to request that the school do it. It's part of their evaluation to determine special ed services. They usually don't grant special ed services without a diagnosis so they have to make that resource available. I would go to the school and specifically request that your son be evaluated for a learning disability. I don't know if any child psychologists or child development type centers might also provide testing too. You could look there as well.

I believe if you get a hold of Social Services in your area they will be able to steer you where you need to go for free testing :)

I say the sooner you know how to fix a problem the better it is... If he is frustrated reading so soon proding and poking w/o knowing will only make it worse and one of the problems is inability to focus... (frequent 5-10min breaks for fresh air and physical activity help -- especially boys -- such as ball bouncing or jumping jacks)

Some form of learning disability apparently runs in my family. Often the child is quite academically intelligent but cannot retrieve information he has absorbed. Testing outside the school is expensive. Some parents do not care to have the child labeled in advance (by using available school testing). Some children rebel against being singled out by having to attend 'special' classrooms apart from their peers.

One route is through a psychiatrist (not psychologist) for a consultation and eval. of your child. The psychiatrist can recommend a testing facility. Once the problem area is highlighted you can follow through with your personal support pointing out the areas where your child can excel (keeping self-esteem intact) and assisting through techniques you learn yourself.

Outside "regular" school there are "vision" (perception) doctors (PhD) and classes available. The one on one is extremely helpful (as well as parent relieving -- some kids rebel if a parent comes down too hard on the academic/homework issues) by a therapist trained to assist the reading (or math) processes.

Search through the teachers available for you child's grade to see if they have been trained in alternative methods of teaching. Boys in general (although I have personnally experienced two girls as well as a boy and a male adult) seem to need more physical release in the regular class room. Ask other parents who have had teachers in the grade your child will attend
what they think of each teacher available. Firmly request (at the end of each school year for the following year) the teacher you believe your child will be able to learn from best. I'm learning younger teachers have had more training in different kinds of learning.

Perhaps also, test for food allergy's. Regulate your family diet as best you can (withholding sweets or caffiene doesn't always work). Certain foods (especially fast food fats and preservatives) can cause addictions and behavior problems. Think fresh food -- grow your own veggies and fruits to interest your child in eating (veggies and fruits) from his own garden.

Good luck.... Please go forward. You're already one step ahead if your observations have led you to believe you child might need more help than you will be able to provide as a parent. Many parents are in denial and we are turning out children who are not able to compete in this more technical society.

Hi S.,

If your son goes to a public school, the school MUST provide initial testing and therapy if he needs it. The process will go much faster if the parent requests the testing (as opposed to the teacher requesting it) though, so be sure to ask your son's teacher for it. If he/she doesn't follow up,speak to the principal about it. In elementary schools,parents hold all the power and you need to be your son's advocate (it seems like you already are). I think it's great that you are so aware of your son's issues and are being proactive about it.

I wish you and your son the very best and hope you are able to get the answers and help you are seeking.

Take care,
L.

Testing outside of school is expensive, but testing within the school has other "costs." Its a frustrating experience if the child's teacher doesn't recommend. Once it goes forward, so many people (principal, teacher, specialist, psychologists) get involved, and if the issue is a "specialty" the school covers resources "generally." If an IEP is issued, it stays on the permanent record forever. That's isn't a horrible thing, but if ever your student wants to take harder classes, the opportunity will be squashed by the label in his cumulative file. A learning disability doesn't often affect intelligence.
We tested outside, paid for all the tests ourselves. Even paid for the therapy ourselves. We had to penny pinch during the therapy years; but the costs were tax deductible as a medical expense. My daughter is in high school now, enjoying her school experience; knows how to work with her issues to be academically successful.
We tested with an education psychologist and with the Eye Care Clinic of the College of Optometry in Fullerton (across from CSUF.)
PM me if you need more info.

An eye/vision therapist will be able to adequately access your child's vision and let you know. Contact your insurance provider or an eye doc that prescribes glasses. They should have a network of people who they refer issues to.

My friend's son and my grandson both had vision therapy to improve their vision issues. They used colored pages to look through, colored paper to write on, they used odd looking glasses that had changeable lenses that they moved back and forth during a set reading assignment. The glasses looked like the ones in the National Treasure movies. There are therapies they use and they do work if done correctly. My grandson's vision sent from where his brain wasn't accepting information from his right eye to nearly 20/20 vision. He still wears glasses but his brain was retrained. It works and I know it does. He sits and reads for hours now and has few, if any, issues. He did the exercises for almost a year in foster care and my BFF was his foster mom and I know she did the exercises every day with him.

As for my friend that did them with her son, he was a poor student and she worked daily with him on several therapies from an Educational Psychologist and the vision work too and he graduated nearly a straight A student after nearly failing every grade in elementary school. He did the vision therapy daily for a couple of years if I remember correctly.